(1 of )Artist Christina Minor paints on one of the panels around center camp at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev. on Aug. 24, 2014. The event was temporarily closed on Monday, when it was supposed to open, due to heavy rains. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(3 of ) Artist Christina Minor paints on one of the panels around center camp at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev. on Aug. 24, 2014. The event was temporarily closed on Monday, when it was supposed to open, due to heavy rains. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(4 of ) Eric Peltier and Martha Lackritz celebrate their honeymoon at the Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev., on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(5 of ) Artists and volunteers work on the "Man" at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev., on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(6 of ) Artists and volunteers work on the art piece Embrace as they get ready for the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev. on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(7 of ) Artists and volunteers work on the art piece Embrace as they get ready for the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nev. on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron) NO SALES; NEVADA APPEAL OUT; SOUTH RENO WEEKLY OUT

(8 of ) Artists and volunteers work on the "Man" at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(9 of ) Artists and volunteers work on the Temple of Grace at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev, on Aug. 24, 2014, a day before the event opens to ticket holders. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(10 of ) In this Sunday night, Aug. 23, 2014 photo, an art car is driven to the Black Rock DMV to be registered at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(15 of ) In this Sunday night, Aug. 23, 2014 photo, an art car is driven to the Black Rock DMV to be registered at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(16 of ) In this Sunday night, Aug. 23, 2014 photo, art cars are lined up to be registered at the Black Rock DMV during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(17 of ) In this Sunday night, Aug. 23, 2014 photo, a Burning Man participant's bike is surrounded by art cars that are lined up at the Black Rock DMV to be registered at Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(32 of ) In this Aug. 27, 2014 photo, Burning Man participants take part in an event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

(33 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(34 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(35 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(36 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(37 of ) Off on an adventure in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada? Take a look at some of our photos from Burning Mans past. What does this year have in store? Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(38 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(39 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(40 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(41 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(42 of ) Burning Man 2014. (WILL BUCQUOY)

(43 of ) Burning Man Festival, 2014. (Will Bucquoy)

Rains, mud shut Burning Man gates (w/video)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS | August 25, 2014

BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. — Thousands of Burning Man enthusiasts were on the outside looking in Monday after a rare batch of heavy rain forced organizers to temporarily close entry to the counterculture event in the desert 90 miles north of Reno.

Standing water made a muddy mess Monday morning of the Black Rock Desert playa, where numerous vehicles were stuck and northbound traffic on State Highway 447 was being turned back toward Reno.

Organizers said the event would remain closed through Monday and possibly into Tuesday with a chance of isolated rain showers in the forecast overnight.

Last year, a record 68,000 people attended the event that runs through the Labor Day weekend.

Several hundred people who entered the gates during Sunday's opening were being told to remain in place at their camps. Many who didn't make it to event before the gates closed were descending on Pyramid Lake to set up camp about 30 miles northwest of Reno.

"We're going to make the best of the situation," Charlie Lucas, of Portland, Oregon, told the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://tinyurl.com/lkajkks ).

The Nevada Highway Patrol issued a statement late Monday that urged participants to stay overnight at motels and hotels in Reno, Sparks and Fernley, and noted that Wal-Mart stores were offering the use of their parking lots for RVs overnight.

"We are requesting that participants do not try and travel out to the Burning Man area until notified that the roads will be open," NHP Trooper Dan Lopez said, adding that "we are not sure" when that will be and will be determined by the weather through Tuesday morning.

By midday Monday, hundreds of people had gathered outside a tribal smoke shop just off U.S. Interstate 80 in Wadsworth east of Reno where they were buying camping permits at the lake that sits on the Pyramid Lake-Paiute Reservation.

Clerks at the smoke shop said they had no idea how many permits had been sold, only that they were "overwhelmed" and did not have time to talk.

"We're going to make good of a bad situation," Shaft Uddin of London told the Gazette-Journal. "I hear Pyramid Lake is beautiful, and apparently there is going to be a big party."

By Monday afternoon, yellow Volkswagen buses, countless recreation vehicles and at least one school bus painted to look like a cheetah with whiskers on the hood began packing campsites along the lake.

Close to a dozen of those first arrivals took off their clothes and entered the lake, the newspaper reported.

Nudity is allowed at Burning Man as part of the celebration of art and self-expression.

But within an hour, a park ranger at Pyramid Lake had asked the campers to put their clothes back on. "How can you not know that it is not OK to be naked in public?" the ranger asked.